The present invention is related to a vehicle control unit which is mounted in a vehicle equipped with an idling stop function.
There are a conventional engine starting system which includes an engine switch to be depressed to start and stop an engine and in which a power supply mode of supplying electrical energy to electrical systems of a vehicle through depression of the engine switch is switched into plural modes such as an OFF mode, an accessory mode and an ON mode (refer to Patent Document 1). In addition, there have been provided a vehicle which has an idling stop function to automatically stop and restart an engine according to driving conditions of the vehicle (refer to Patent Document 2). In the idling stop function, when the vehicle is stopped at an intersection, the engine is automatically stopped in the event that an automatic stopping condition is met which includes, for example, a condition that vehicle speed equals 0 and a condition that a brake pedal is not operated. In addition, in the idling stop function, the engine is restarted in the event that a restarting condition is met which includes a condition that the brake pedal depressed is released or an accelerator pedal is operated.
In a vehicle equipped with the engine starting system and the idling stop function, there occurs a situation in which the driver attempts to quicken the restart of the engine with intention, for example, a situation in which the vehicle is waiting to turn to the right at an intersection with the idling stop function implemented. In this case, the driver cannot move the vehicle at the intersection due to oncoming traffic, and therefore, the driver cannot restart the engine by releasing the brake pedal depressed. Consequently, the engine is designed to be restarted by the engine switch being depressed by the driver. Namely, the restart of the engine can be quickened by depressing the engine switch while the idling stop function is being implemented.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2002-122058
[Patent Document 2] JP-A-09-209790